Chiral low-energy constants

Abstract

The progress in determining the coupling constants of mesonic chiral Lagrangians is reviewed, with emphasis on the work performed in three successive European Networks (Eurodaphne I and II, Euridice). Reliable estimates of those constants are essential for making full use of next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations in chiral perturbation theory. The precision in the values of the strong coupling constants of O(p^4) has been increasing steadily over the years. The situation is less satisfactory in the nonleptonic weak sector where further phenomenological input and more theoretical work are needed. A lot of progress has recently been achieved for electromagnetic coupling constants occurring in radiative corrections for mesonic processes at low energies.

12 pages; presented at the Final Euridice Meeting, Kazimierz, Poland, Aug. 2006; to appear in the Proceedings (Acta Physica Polonica)